Most of you have never heard of Lawrence Hanratty, who was named the "Unluckiest Man In New York City." (Profiled in the Los Angeles Times)

He was nearly electrocuted to death in a construction site accident in 1984. For weeks he lay in a coma, with his lawyers fighting for his liability claim, until one of them was disbarred and two of them died. Hanratty's wife ran off with her lawyer.

Hanratty lost his car in a terrible crash and when the police left the accident scene, he was robbed. Later, his insurance company fought to cut off his worker's benefits; his landlord tried to evict him. He suffered from depression/agoraphobia. He took an oxygen canister with him where ever he went and took 42 pills a day for his heart and liver ailments.

A city councilman took up his cause, and neighbors began to rally around him. Incredibly, Lawrence summed his life this way: "There's always hope."